I've got new pop music in the spotlight!

Fuse TV's "Oven Fresh" didn't update their web page this week, the bums, but there were still a lot of new songs, mostly thanks to MTV's "TRL".

• The big debut this week is Usher's "Love In This Club" with an inexplicably brief cameo from Young Jeezy. He's a huge star and this doesn't stink, but it's not that great. It's a little sluggish with a big, yearning chorus.
  
• I gotta admit, Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" is something I first saw on "TRL". I normally fast-forward through that show, but I took a brief look at the video. She's a great beauty and in this clip, she isn't wearing a whole lot... I'm sure she isn't exploiting her looks, right? Anyway--the song? She's still got that remarkable voice, but there's not much to recommend in this tepid boudoir track.
• Jay-Z is also trying a little romance with "I Know", from his "inspired by" homage to the recent film, American Gangster. He's ill-suited to the task, but I love the production. It's nice to hear him leave the standard hip-hop beats behind for a varied collection of lighter percussion and a nimble groove.
• We have another teen singer on the charts in Tiffany Evans, debuting with "I'm Grown". Maybe she's a talented singer, but it doesn't matter with such an assembly-line product. Nothing to see here, move along.
• I freely admit that when Gnarls Barkley broke in 2006, I was underwhelmed. It didn't help when their big single, "Crazy" was totally taking over France at the time I visited (seriously unavoidable)--and that nearly catatonic cover of the Violent Femmes' "Gone Baby Gone" didn't improve their standing in my eyes. They debut their new hit, "Run", and I'm pleasantly surprised. It's like classic Motown or maybe Wilson Pickett--but on amphetamines.
• And from the BBC top 20, we get Taio Cruz performing "Come On Girl". It's another cheesy commercial dance beat with mannered singing and a forgettable melody. Please don't bother.

CDs listened to today:

• Juraj Filas: Sonata For Trombone And Piano (At the end of the century)
• Gustav Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
• Prince: The Black Album
• Bill Watrous: The Tiger Of San Pedro
• Marie Barker Nelson: Culinary Concerto For Clarinet